To continue with my story, I was watching one of Dan’s sermons the other day, and he mentioned how he likes to mark up his bible, and that he has a system to highlight certain themes and ideas etc. After hearing that I was hoping to find out a little bit more of the method he uses to see if it might help me in my own time of studying the bible. I went on an internet search. I didn’t find the information I was searching for, but I did find a web site that was listing the topic, “Dan Mohler - False Teacher…” you can search it out yourself if you would like, it was one of the first hits on the page when I used the search term, “Dan Mohler.” I was intrigued, and a little concerned. Had I been listening to a false teacher?
After several hours reading over the site’s alleged proof as to why Dan was a false teacher it became clear to me that their claims were completely unfounded. I unwisely left a comment on the website and after being taunted into a wholly unfruitful exchange of comments I was left feeling somewhat confused and a little angry. Without going into great detail I was severely chastised for voicing my opinion, and instead of being answered in love, and any kind of genuine concern for my “erroneous beliefs” - in their estimation - I was literally told,”This is you justifying self-righteousness and murder,” and “If you were led by the Spirit of Truth, not only would you recognize the bad fruits of Dan Mohler, you would recognize that the Holy Spirit is with us. 1 John 4:6 ESV (6) We are from God. Whoever knows God listens to us; whoever is not from God does not listen to us. By this we know the Spirit of truth and the spirit of error.” and just for good measure, “You stand before the White Throne of Judgment as we speak.” Upon reflection it became clear to me that I was dealing with a group that is operating in a spirit of legalism, accusation and, no doubt, a host of other demonic influences. I thought about this for some time, and then by the grace of God, decided the wisest course of action to take was to pray about it. So I did. I felt compelled to read the book of Galatians. So I did. In the book of Galatians there is a significant amount of teaching on a group in that day known as “the circumcision”. To the best of my knowledge, “the circumcision” was attempting to draw people into attaining righteousness by following the law. The law of the Jewish people as given to Moses. The problem of course with this type of practise is that actually attaining righteousness in our own strength by attempting to follow a set of rules, is that it is impossible to do, and it opens up those that attempt to do so to strongholds of self-righteousness, unforgiveness, and condemnation. Okay, so now what? Back to prayer, that’s what. I now felt that the best thing to do would be to pray for them. So I did. Ultimately, I am not the judge. That’s Christ’s job. If I am cursed by others for following in the way of righteousness, hurray for me, there’s a reward for that!
The next day I was curious as to whether anyone else on the internet had anything to say about the group I had the discussion with. There wasn’t a whole lot, but some of what I found got me going off on yet another bunny trail. It seemed to me that there are people who present themselves as authorities on issues and try to authenticate this authority with a glut of theories and endless discussions that frankly, only suggest to me an unhealthy desire to be considered wise, and in many cases they feel the need to point of the wrongs in others. Regardless, I was left feeling confused. I wondered aloud, “how can I possibly sort out all the conflicting opinions and know what the truth is?” So, what do you think I did? That’s right. I prayed about it.
As I prayed the thought came to me, “God is not the author of confusion.” The reference is in 1 Corinthians 14:33 KJV “For God is not the author of confusion, but of peace, as in all churches of the saints.” 1st Corinthians chapter 14 lays out some guidelines of how things are to be done in the church. Things are to be done in a manner that help and lovingly encourage people to understand what God is saying to us. Another thought that occured to me was from 2 Tim 2:23-26 where it says, “Again I say, don’t get involved in foolish, ignorant arguments that only start fights. A servant of the Lord must not quarrel but must be kind to everyone, be able to teach, and be patient with difficult people. Gently instruct those who oppose the truth. Perhaps God will change those people’s hearts, and they will learn the truth. Then they will come to their senses and escape from the devil’s trap. For they have been held captive by him to do whatever he wants.”There you have it. At the end of the day, it’s not my job to point out everybody else’s shortcomings, if there are anybody’s weakness I need to address they are my own. In some situations it may be required of me protect others and myself from those who seeking to harm others, whether that be physically, emotionally, spiritually or some other way. It is my job, if indeed Holy Spirit is guiding me, to transform my mind that it is able to understand the things of God, to constantly seek His guidance, to be a light in a dark place, to pray about all things in all situations, and to pray for those around me, even, perhaps especially, the ones who don’t understand His love.
Seek peace and pursue it.
